The Jaguar XF Sportbrake Lives and Its Coming To The U.S.

It was back in April of this year that we reported Jaguar was getting out of wagon game citing shrinking sale. But fast forward to the Paris Motor Show and Jaguar has revealed an image of the next XF Sportbrake under some camouflage. Plus, news has come out that the Sportbrake is coming to the U.S. What happened?

Let us go back to our story back in April. Those comments about Jaguar not doing another wagon came from the chief designer, Ian Callum. But Callum tweeted that he was misquoted, saying that they wouldn't do an XE wagon. In May, Auto Express reported that the second-generation XF Sportbrake had been given the green light. Now the picture Jaguar showed off of the new XF Sportbrake doesn't really tell us anything new. It looks like your standard XF with a longer roof. The XF Sportbrake is expected to debut sometime next year.

Now for the U.S. bit. Motor Trend has learned from Joe Eberhardt, president and CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America that the XF Sportbrake will be coming to the U.S. Unlike other wagons (aside from the new E-Class Wagon) that are lifted up and feature body cladding, Eberhardt said it would be a bonified wagon and share powertrains with the XF sedan.

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Mercedes has some wagon loyalists, this why the E-class wagon remains, and that is an affluent buyer group.

If the Sales person tells a buyer this is the new XF crossover sport, some dopes will buy it just because they think it is a crossover. Call anything a crossover and give it awd and the sheep will line up to buy it.

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Source: Car and Driver

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As for the hybrid, Koba said the decision comes down to the market, not engineering. At the moment, Toyota doesn't see the demand for this model in the U.S.
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Source: Car and Driver

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Source: Motor Trend, Handelsblatt, Reuters

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Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)